Method for forming a color image and image forming apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

A method for forming an image by the steps of: 
     (a) imagewise exposing a heat-developable color light-sensitive material; 
     (b) uniformly exposing at least a portion of the heat-developable light-sensitive material; and 
     (c) heat developing the imagewise exposed and uniformly exposed heat-developable light-sensitive material to form a color image. 
     The present invention also includes an apparatus for forming an image on a heat-developable color light-sensitive material by imagewise exposing the material, uniformly exposing at least a portion of the material, and developing the uniformly exposed and imagewise exposed material by application of heat to form a color image, the apparatus comprising: 
     imagewise exposure means for imagewise exposing the heat-delvelopable positive color light-sensitive material; 
     uniform exposure means for uniformly exposing at least a portion of the heat-developable light-sensitive material; 
     transferring means for superposing an image-receiving sheet member onto the imagewise exposed and uniformly exposed heat-developable color light-sensitive material; and 
     heating means for heating the superposed heat-developable light-sensitive material and the image-receiving sheet member, to develop a color image and transfer the image from the heat-developable light-sensitive material to the image-receiving sheet member. 
     According to the invention, heat-developable materials can be used to reproduce originals having various gradations, or continuous-tone and on-off originals, simply and quickly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a color image forming process and an apparatusfor the process. More specifically, the invention relates to a colorimage forming process capable of changing the gradation of heatdevelopable color photographic materials and an apparatus for theprocess.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various heat-developable color photographic materials are known,including a positive type heat-developable color photographic materialcapable of providing positive or negative images when the original is apositive or negative image, respectively.

These include a system using a dye developing agent and a surface latentimage type silver halide emulsion described in JP-A-59-165054 (the term"JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patentapplication"); a system using a dye-providing compound which has areducing property and becomes non-releasible of the dye when it reactswith a silver halide at heating, and a surface latent image type silverhalide emulsion described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,137; a system using adye-providing compound releasing a diffusible dye by a remainingreducing agent counter-corresponding to the development of silver halideand a surface latent image type silver halide emulsion, described inU.S. Pat. No. 4,559,290, European Pat. No. 220,746A2, and Kokai Giho87-6199; and a system using a dye-providing compound releasing orforming a dye corresponding to the development of silver halide and aninternal latent image type silver halide emulsion, and reversing atprocessing with a nucleating agent or light described in JP-A-61-107243,JP-A-62-9265, and JP-A-61-159643.

Such positive type heat developable color photographic materials can beused for various purposes such as the reproduction of black-and-white orcolor transmission or reflective originals, photographing people orscenes, making computer graphic images such as computer animations andcomputer art, making medical images for, e.g., a CCD endoscope, amicroscope, NMR image diagnosis, supersonic image diagnosis, and makingimages in the printing field, such as camera-ready art and proofs.

Image-forming processes providing images having good quality using thesematerials include a process of imagewise forming or releasing diffusibledyes from dye-providing compounds with heat development, andtransferring the diffusible dyes onto a dye-fixing element containing amordant by a solvent such as water, a process of transferring these dyesby a high-boiling organic solvent, a process of transferring these dyesonto a dye-fixing element by a hydrophilic solvent contained in thedye-fixing element, and a process of transferring the dyes onto adye-fixing element such as a support. In these processes negative dyeimages or positive dye images from the same original can be desirablyobtained by changing the dye-providing compounds or the silver halideemulsions used as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,079,4,474,867, 4,478,927, 4,507,380, 4,500k,626, and 4,483,914,JP-A-58-149046, JP-A-58-149047, JP-A-59-152440, JP-A-59-154445,JP-A-59-165054, JP-A-59-l -180548, JP-A-59-168439, JP-A-590174832,JP-A-59-174833, JP-A-59-174834, JP-A-590174635, and JP-A-61-23245, andEP-A2-b 210,660 and EP-A2-220,746.

In particular, it has recently been investigated to utilize such adiffusion transfer type heat-developable color photographic material forportrait-containing booklets such as passports and bankbooks. Also, ithas further been investigated to use the color photographic material forportrait identity cards (ID cards). These booklets or cards are requiredto have, in addition to portraits, the names, nationalities, sexes,dates of birth as well as letters, signs and bar codes, of information.In this case, portraits are images of continuous tone and letters,signs, bar codes, are images of discontinuous tone, i.e., "on-off"images. However, when these continuous tone images and on-off images areexposed on the same heat-developable color photographic material underthe same image exposure conditions, one of the continuous tone imagesand the on-off images formed does not have the image quality required.Accordingly, it is necessary to separately expose for the continuoustone images and the on-off images, which results in increased totalprocessing time and complicated exposure means.

Since these various originals each has its own gradation, it isdifficult to attain reproduction faithful to various original imagesusing one kind of positive type heat developable color photographicmaterial. That is, when a positive type heat developable colorphotographic material used has a hard gradation, it is difficult toreproduce images faithful to an original having soft tone, and when apositive type heat developable color photographic material having softtone is used, it is difficult to reproduce images faithful to anoriginal having hard tone. Accordingly, for reproduction faithful to adesired original, it is necessary to select a positive type heatdevelopable color photographic material suitable for the gradation ofthe original, whenever the original is changed.

In the field of conventional silver halide photographic materials whichare subjected to wet processing using a developer at about normaltemperature, in the case of printing images onto a black-and-whitephotographic paper from a color negative, a weak overall exposure can beapplied to the black-and-white photographic paper before image exposurefor softening the gradation of the toe portion (low density portion).However, in the case of color photographic materials, this method ofsoftening gradation by overall exposure is little employed owing totechnical difficulties such as the number of processing solutions, andthe difficulty of color balance control of three colors.

Also, a process is known of obtaining positive images by imagewiseexposing a photographic material using internal latent image type silverhalide emulsions and then applying an overall exposure in a state thatthe development does not substantially proceed. In this process, imagesare reversed by the overall exposure and the overall exposure is a verylarge power of gradation change. This system can be realized when thedevelopment is performed using a long development bath since in such acase, the overall exposure can be applied for a sufficient time. Whenthe development is performed for a short period of time (in particular,within one minute to 30 seconds), the development starts simultaneouslywith the immersion of a photographic material in the developer and,thereby, overall exposure in the state that the development does notsubstantially occur is not possible, which makes it difficult to obtainreversal. In particular, reversal by this system is considered to bemore difficult for a heat-developable light-sensitive material which isquickly developed without using a processing solution.

Furthermore, JP-A-58-60739 proposes a system of changing the gradationof reversal images by controlling the amount of light for the overallexposure for the reversal but since the overall exposure for reversalalso acts as the exposure for controlling the gradation in the system,there is a problem that the tone reproducibility of positive images ispoor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to provide an image-forming processcapable of simply and quickly obtaining images and an image-formingapparatus for the process.

Another object of this invention is to provide an image-forming processcapable of reproducing images or originals having various gradations,using one photographic light-sensitive material and an image-formingapparatus for the process.

A further object of this invention is to provide an image-formingprocess capable of forming good images of both the continuous toneoriginals and on-off originals on the same heat-developable colorphotographic material.

It has now been found that these and other objects can be attained by amethod for forming an image by the steps of:

(a) imagewise exposing a heat-developable color light-sensitivematerial;

(b) uniformly exposing at least a portion of the heat-developablelight-sensitive material; and

(c) heat developing the imagewise exposed and uniformly exposedheat-developable light-sensitive material to form a color image.

The present invention also includes an apparatus for forming an image ona heat-developable color light-sensitive material by imagewise exposingthe material, uniformly exposing at least a portion of the material, anddeveloping the uniformly exposed and imagewise exposed material byapplication of heat to form a color image, the apparatus comprising:

imagewise exposure means for imagewise exposing the heat-developablecolor light-sensitive material;

uniform exposure means for uniformly exposing at least a portion of theheat-developable light-sensitive material;

transferring means for superposing an image-receiving sheet member ontothe imagewise exposed and uniformly exposed heat-developable colorlight-sensitive material; and

heating means for heating the superposed heat-developablelight-sensitive material and the image-receiving sheet member, todevelop a color image and transfer the image from the heat-developablelight-sensitive material to the image-receiving sheet member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of theduplicating apparatus of this invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment of the duplicating apparatus ofthis invention,

FIG. 3 is a view showing a machine readable passport (MRP) to which theinvention is applied,

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the main portions showing themanner of making an MRP and the layer structure of a MRP in an exampleof this invention,

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a video printer,

FIG. 6 is a view showing an original which is used for the purpose ofthis invention, and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an image duplicating apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this invention, the gradation of positive color images can be changedto improve image reproducibility by applying overall exposure to aheat-developable color photographic material.

Also, in this invention, since the overall exposure for the tone changeof gradation can be made separately from the step of heat development,the tone of the gradation can be changed without losing the quickprocessing of heat development.

The extent of the tone change of gradation can be controlled bycontrolling the exposure amount (i.e., the intensity and the time oflight exposure) at the overall exposure.

The invention includes an image-forming process including a step ofexposing continuous tone images and discontinuous tone images on thesame frame of a heat-developable color photographic material and a stepof heat-developing it, wherein an overall exposure is applied to thecontinuous tone image exposure zone of the heat-developable colorphotographic material before, during, or after the image exposure.

The exposure amount E is the product of an exposure intensity I and anexposure time t,

    E=I×t.

If an exposure amount for the image exposure is Eo, the exposure amountfor the tone change of gradation is preferably in the range of from1/30×Eo to 1/10××Eo, and particularly from 1,200×Eo to 1/15×Eo.

Also, if an image exposure time is t_(o), the exposure time t for thetone change of gradation is preferably in the range of from 1/100×t_(o)to 100×t_(o), and preferably from 1/10×t_(o) to 100×t_(o).

Also, the overall exposure may be applied in two separate exposures ormay be two or more intermittent exposures. In this case, if the exposuretimes and the illuminances are t₁, t₂, --- and I₁, I₂, ---,respectively, the total exposure amount is ##EQU1##

The heat-developable light-sensitive material has layer(s) containing alight-sensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-providing compound, and areducing agent (the dye-providing compounds can also act as the reducingagent) on a support. If necessary, the light-sensitive layer may furthercontain additives such as an organic silver salt.

When a heat-developable color photographic material has plurallight-sensitive layers, the overall exposure may be applied on one layeronly or the plural layers.

For example, when a heat-developable color photographic is composed oflight-sensitive layers having color sensitivity to red light, greenlight, and blue light, respectively, the layers are usually a cyan dyeimage-forming layer, a magenta dye image-forming layer, and a yellow dyeimage-forming layer. In this case, when the tone of the magenta dyeimages only is softened, green light may be used for the tone change ofgradation and further red light and blue light may be used for the cyandye images and yellow dye images, respectively.

That is, according to this system, the gradation of an optional dyeimage can be controlled.

The overall exposure may be performed before the image exposure, duringthe image exposure (i.e., simultaneously with the image exposure), orafter the image exposure.

In the case of applying the overall exposure during the image exposure,the light source for the overall exposure may be the same one as thelight source used for the image exposure or may be another one. When theoverall exposure is performed after the image exposure, it is performedbefore the initation of the heat development.

Furthermore, as the light source for the overall exposure, visible lightis used, and examples thereof are a tungsten lamp, a mercury lamp, ahalogen lamp (e.g., iodine lamp), and a xenon lamp. Also, as the overallexposure system, an overall simultaneous exposure system and a slitexposure system can be used.

Systems of transferring diffusible dyes include a system of transferringthe dyes onto an image-receiving material by an aqueous solvent such aswater; a system of transferring dyes onto an image-receiving material bya high-boiling organic solvent; a system of transferring dyes onto animage-receiving material by a hydrophilic heat solvent; and a system oftransferring dyes onto an image-receiving material having adye-receptive polymer utilizing the heat diffusibility or thesublimability of the diffusible dyes.

Specific examples of the heat-developable photographic materials andimage-receiving materials for use in this invention are described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,079, 4,474,867, 4,478,927, 4,507,380,4,500,626, and 4,483,914, JP-A-58-149046, JP-A-58-149047, JPA-59-152440, JP-A-59-154445, JP-A-59-165054, JP-A-59-180548,JP-A-59-168439, JP-A-59-174832, JP-A-59-174833, JP-A-59-174834,JP-A-59-174835, JP-A-62-65038, and JP-A-61-23234, EP-A2-210,660 andEP-A2-220,746.

The present invention is especially preferred in the case of using for apositive working heat-developable light-sensitive material having theconstruction as described below.

The positive working heat-developable light-sensitive material suitablefor this invention contains surface latent image type silver halideemulsion(s) and dye-providing compound(s) releasing a diffusible dye bybeing reduced with a reducing agent remaining without being oxidizedafter developing the silver halide by the reducing agent, or a precursorthereof present at development. The positive working heat-developablecolor photographic material of this type has the advantage that the tonechanging effect of gradation by the overall exposure in this inventionhas good reproducibility.

Preferred examples of the dye-providing compound having this functionare represented by formula (I):

    PWR(Time).sub.t - Dye                                      (I)

wherein PWR represents a group capable of releasing (Time)_(t) -Dye uponbeing reduced; Time represents a group capable of releasing Dye after(Time)_(t) -Dye released from PWR; t is 0 or 1; and Dye represents a dyeor a precursor thereof.

PWR may, for example, be a moiety containing an electron acceptingcenter and an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution center in acompound releasing a photographic reagent by nucleophilic substitutionreaction in the molecule after being reduced, as disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,139,389, 4,139,379 and 4,564,577, JP-A-59-185333, andJP-A-57-84453; or a moiety containing an electron accepting quinoidcenter and a carbon atom bonding the quinoide center to a photographicreagent in a compound capable of releasing the photographic reagent byan electron transferring reaction in the molecule after being reduced,as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,107, JP-A-59-101649 andJP-A-61-88257, and Research Disclosure, No. 24025, IV (1984). Also, PWRmay be a moiety containing an aryl group substituted by an electronattactive group and an atom (sulfur atom, carbon atom, or nitrogen atom)bonding the aryl group to a photographic reagent in a compound capableof releasing the photographic reagent by the cleavage of a single bondafter being reduced, as disclosed in West German Patent Application(OLS) 3,008,588, JP-A-56-142530 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,343,893 and4,619,884. Furthermore, PWR may be a moiety containing a nitro group anda carbon atom bonding the nitro group to a photographic reagent in anitro compound capable of releasing the photographic reagent afterreceiving electron, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,223; or a moietycontaining a dieminal dinitro group and a carbon atom bonding the groupto a photographic reagent in a dinitro compound capable of 8-releasingthe photographic reagent after accepting an electron as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,609,610.

Preferred examples of the compound shown by formula (I) described aboveinclude compouds having an N-X bond (wherein X represents oxygen atom,nitrogen atom, or sulfur atom) and an electron attractive group in onemolecule described in EP-A2-330,746, Kokai Giho 87-6199, JP-A-62-244048,JP-A-63-201653, and JP-A-63-201654; compounds having an S0₂ -X bond(wherein X is same as described above) and an electron attractive groupin one molecule described in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-106885(USSN 07/188,779); compounds having a C--X' bond (wherein X' is same asX described above or represents --SO₂ --) and an electron attractivegroup in one molecule described in Japanese Patent Application No.62-106887 (USSN 07/189,269); and the compound having ##STR1## wherein Xis same as described above) and an electron attractive group in onemolecule described in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-106895. Inthese compounds, the N-X bond type compounds are particularly preferred.

Practical examples and method of using these dye-providing compounds aredescribed in detail in the above patents and patent applications, andthey can be used in this invention based on the descriptions thereof.

The surface latent image type silver halide which is used in a preferredembodiment of this invention may be silver chloride, silver bromide,silver iodobromide, silver chlorobromide, silver chloroiodide, or silverchloroiodobromide.

The silver halide emulsion for use in this invention may be amono-disperse emulsion or a polydisperse emulsion, or a mixture ofplural mono-disperse emulsions may be used. The grain sizes of thesilver halide grains for use in this invention are from 0.1 to 2 μm, andparticularly preferably from 0.2 to 1.5 μm. The crystal habit of thesilver halide grains may be cubic, octahedral, tetradecahedral, ortabular of high aspect ratio.

The silver halide emulsions described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,626 and4,628,021, Research Disclosure (RD 17029), pages 9 to 10 (June, 1978),JP-A-60-196748, JP-A-60-192937, and JP-A-60-258535 can be used in thisinvention.

The silver halide emulsion can be used as a primitive emulsion but isusually chemically sensitized. For the chemical sensitization, a sulfursensitization, a reduction sensitization, and a noble metalsensitization which are usually applied to ordinary silver halideemulsions can be used singly or as a combination thereof. These chemicalsensitizations can be performed in the presence of a nitrogen-containingheterocyclic compound (JP-A-58-126526 and JP-A-58-215644).

The coating amount of the light-sensitive silver halide for use in thisinvention is in the range of from 1 mg/m² to 10 g/m² as silver.

In this invention, an organic metal salt can be used as an oxidizingagent together with the light-sensitive silver halide, and of theseorganic metal salts, an organic silver salt is particularly preferablyused. As the organic compounds capable of being used for forming theseorganic silver salt oxidizing agents, there are the compounds describedin U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,626, such as benzotriazoles and fatty acids.Also, there are a silver salt of a carboxylic acid having an alkynylgroup such as silver phenylpropionate described in JP-A-60-113235 andacetylene silver described in JP-A-61-249044. The organic silver saltsmay be used singly or as a combination thereof.

The organic silver salt described above is used in the range of from0.01 mol to 10 mols, and preferably from 0.01 mol to 1 mol per mol oflight-sensitive silver halide. The sum of the coating amounts of thelight-sensitive silver halide and the organic silver salt is suitablyfrom 50 mg/m² to 10 g/m² as silver.

The silver halide emulsion for use in this invention may be spectrallysensitized by methine dyes. Examples of the dyes which are used for thespectral sensitization are cyanine dyes, merocyanine dyes, complexcyanine dyes, complex merocyanine dyes, holopolar cyanine dyes,hemicyanine dyes, styryl dyes, and hemioxonole dyes.

Examples of these dyes are the sensitizing dyes described inJP-A-59-180550 and JP-A-60-140335, Research Disclosure, (RD 17029),pages 12 to 13 (June 1978), and the heat-discoloring sensitizing dyesdescribed in JP-A-60-111239 and JP-A-62-32445.

These sensitizing dyes may be used singly or as a combination thereofand a combination of sensitizing dyes is frequently used for the purposeof super-sensitization.

As the binder for the heat-developable color photographic material whichis used in this invention, hydrophilic binders are preferably used. Asthe hydrophilic binders, transparent or translucent binders arepreferred and examples thereof are proteins such as gelatin and gelatinderivatives; cellulose derivatives; polysaccharides such as starch andgum arabic; and water-soluble vinyl polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol,polyvinylpyrrolidone, a partial saponification product of a copolymer ofvinyl alcohol and acrylic acid, and an acrylamide polymer. These bindersmay be used singly or as a combination thereof. Furthermore, in additionto the binder, a dispersed vinyl compound can be used for improving thedimensional stability of the photographic material.

In this invention, the coating amount of the binder is preferably lessthan 20 g/m², more preferably less than 10 g/m², and particularlypreferably less than 7 g/m².

For the heat-developable color photographic materials which are used inthis invention, a reducing agent or a precursor therefor which are knownin the field of heat-developable light-sensitive materials can be used.Also, these materials include dye-providing materials having a reducingproperty as described hereinafter (in this case, other reducing agentscan be used in combination). Furthermore, a reducing agent precursorwhich does not have a reducing property by itself but shows a reducingproperty by the action of a nucleophilic reagent or heat duringdevelopment can be used.

Examples of the reducing agent which can be used in this invention arethe reducing agents and the precursors therefor described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,500,626, 4,483,914, 4,330,617 and 4,590,162; JP-A-60-140335;JP-A-57-40245; JP-A-56-138736; JP-A-60-128438; JP-A-60-128436;JP-A-60-128439; JP-A-60-128347; JP-A-62-131253; JP-A-62-131254;JP-A-62-131255; JP-A-62-131256; and EP-A2-220,746; and the combinationsof various reducing agents described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,869.

The addition amount of the reducing agent in this invention is from 0.01mol to 20 mols, and preferably from 0.1 mol to 10 mols per mol ofsilver.

For obtaining colors of wide range in the chromaticity diagram usingthree primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, a combination of atleast three silver halide emulsion layers each having light-sensitivityfor each different spectral region is used. For example, there are acombination of a blue-sensitive layer, a green-sensitive layer, and ared-sensitive layer and a combination of a green-sensitive layer, ared-sensitive layer, and an infrared-sensitive layer. Theselight-sensitive emulsion layers may be disposed in the orderconventional for ordinary color photographic materials. Also, ifnecessary, each light-sensitive layer may be composed of two or morelayers.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, a dye-fixing elementcapable of receiving diffusible dye(s) formed in the positive workingheat-developable color photographic material is used. The dye-fixingelement may be formed on a support different from the heat-developablelight-sensitive material or formed on the same support as that of theheat-developable light-sensitive material. The relation of theheat-developable light-sensitive material and the dye-fixing element,the relation of the heat-developable sensitizing dye and the support,and the relation of the heat-developable light-sensitive material andthe white reflective layer described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,626, can beused in this invention.

The dye-fixing element which is preferably used in this invention has atleast one-layer containing a mordant and a binder. As the mordant, thoseknown in the field of photography can be used. Practical examples of themordant which can be used in this invention are described in U.S. Pat.No. 4,500,626; JP-A-61-88256; JP-A-60-118834; JP-A-60-119557;JP-A-60-235134; JP-A-62-244043; and JP-A-62-244036. Also, thedye-receptive high-molecular compounds described in U.S. Pat. No.4,462,079 may be used as the mordant.

As the binder for the layer(s) constituting the dye-fixing element,natural or synthetic polymers as described above for theheat-developable light-sensitive materials can be used.

For the heat-developable light-sensitive material and/or the dye-fixingelement for use in this invention can be used an image-formingaccelerator. The dye-forming accelerator has functions of acceleratingthe oxidation-reduction reaction of a silver salt oxidizing agent and areducing agent, accelerating reactions such as the formation of dyesfrom dye-providing materials, the decomposition of dyes, and the releaseof diffusible dyes, and accelerating the transfer of dyes from thelayers of the heat-developable light-sensitive material into thedye-fixing layer. From the physicochemical properties, the image-formingaccelerators are classified into bases, base precursors, nucleophiliccompounds, high-boiling organic solvents (oils), heat solvents, surfaceactive agents, and compounds having combined action with silver orsilver. ions. These materials generally have composite functions and thedye-forming accelerator generally has some of the acceleration effects.Details of these accelerators are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,739.

The base precursor includes a salt of an organic acid causingdecarboxylation by the action of heat, and a base and a compoundreleasing an amine by an intramolecular nucleophilic substitutionreaction, Lossen rearrangement, or Beckmann transition. Examples thereofare described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,493 and JP-A-62-65038. Also, thecombination of the sparingly soluble metal compound and a compoundcapable of causing a complex-forming reaction with the metal ionconsisting the sparingly soluble metal compound (hereinafter referred toas a "complex-forming compound") described in EP-A-210,660 and thecompound generating a base by electrolysis described in JP-A-61-232451can be used as the base precursor in this invention. Of these, theformer is particularly effective. It is advantageous that the sparinglysoluble metal compound and the complex-forming compound are separatelyincorporated in the heat-developable light-sensitive material and thedye-fixing element.

As the support for the heat-developable light-sensitive material and/orthe dye-fixing element in this invention, a material capable of enduringthe processing temperature is used and as general supports, there areglass sheets, papers, plastic films and metal sheets, as well as thesupports described in JP-A-61-147244.

One embodiment of the image-forming process of this invention includes astep of imagewise exposing the heat-developable color photographicmaterial to an original, a step or supplying water to the aforesaidheat-developable photographic material before or after image exposure, astep of superimposing the heat-developable photographic material on adye-fixing element so that the light-sensitive layer of theheat-developable photographic material is in contact with the dye-fixinglayer of the dye-fixing element; a heating step of heat-developing theheat-developable photographic material to transfer by diffusion thecolor images imagewise formed into the dye-fixing element, and a step ofuniformly applying an overall exposure to the heat-developablephotographic material before or during the image exposure step, or afterthe image exposure step and before the superposing step.

Furthermore, the step of supplying water to the heat-developablelight-sensitive material may be performed before or during imageexposure, or after the image exposure and before the superposing step.

Typical examples of the steps for the image-forming process of thisinvention are as follows:

(1) Overall exposure step water→supplying step→image exposurestep→superposing step→heating step (development and transfer).

(2) Overall exposure step→image exposure step→water-supplyingstep→superposing step→heating step (development and transfer).

(3) Image exposure step→overall exposure step→water-supplyingstep→superposing step→heating step (development and transfer).

(4) Image exposure step→water-supplying step→overall exposurestep→superposing step→heating step (development and transfer).

(5) Image exposure step and overall exposure step(simultaneous)→water-supplying step→superposing step→heating step(development and transfer).

A further embodiment of the image-forming process of this inventionincludes a step of imagewise exposing the heat-developable colorphotographic material to an original having a continuous tone image andan on-off image. Also, the heating step may include a pre-heating stepof heating the photographic material to an extent substantially notadvancing heat development and a heating step substantially advancingthe heat development and image transfer.

As the light source for the image exposure step, visible light is usedand examples include a tungsten lamp, a mercury lamp, a halogen lamp(e.g., iodine lamp), and a xenon lamp. Also, as an image exposuresystem, a system for simultaneously exposing the whole surface or a slitexposing system may be employed.

The liquid which is supplied to the heatdevelopable photographicmaterial in the wetting step includes not only "pure water" but also anyordinary tap water. Also, the water may be mixed solvent of pure waterand a low-boiling organic solvent such as methanol, diethylformamide(DMF), acetone, or diisobutyl ketone. Furthermore, the water may containan image-forming accelerator, an antifoggant, a development stoppingagent, a hydrophilic heat solvent.

It is preferred for obtaining uniform images to supply a definite amountof water to the heat-developable photographic material. If water isapplied in a small amount, e.g., less than the maximum swelling amountof the layer(s). image unevenness is liable to form by shedding of wateron the surface of the photographic material or the uneven impregnationof water in the layers. Accordingly, a surface active agent may be addedto the water to improve spreading of water on the surface of thephotographic material.

The amount of the surface active agent differs according to the kindthereof but is preferably an amount of capable reducing the surfacetension below 40 dyne/cm.

Also, the water supplied may be heated to a temperature not over theheat developing temperature.

The amount of water in this invention is in at least 0.1 time the amountof the total coated layers of the heat-developable photographic materialand the dye-fixing element, preferably from 0.1 time the amount of thetotal coated layers to the amount of water corresponding to the maximumswelling volume of the total coated layers, and more preferably from 0.1time the amount of the total coated layers to the amount of watercorresponding to the maximum swelling volume of the total coated layersleaving therefrom the amount of the total coated layers.

The layers become unstable upon swelling and according to conditions,there is a possibility of local bleeding. For preventing this it ispreferred that the amount of water applied is less than the amount ofwater corresponding to the maximum swelling amount of the total coatedlayers of the heat-developable photographic material and the dye-fixingelement.

Practically, the amount of water is from 1 g/m² to 50 g/m², preferablyfrom 2 g/m² to 35 g/m², and more preferably from 3 g/m² to 25 g/m².

For supplying water to the heat-developable photographic material inthis invention, there are, for example, a roller coating process or awire bar coating process described in JP-A-58-55907, a process ofcoating water using a water adsorptive member as described inJP-A-59-181354, a process of applying water by forming a bead of waterbetween the heat-developable light-sensitive material and the dye-fixingelement as described in JP-A-59-181346, a process of applying water byforming a bead of water between a water repelling roller and theheat-developable light-sensitive material as described inJP-A-59-181348, a dip coating process, an extrusion coating process, aprocess of spraying water as jets through fine holes or slits, and aprocess of applying water in a system of rupturing water-containingpods. In this case, it is preferred to recycle water for reuse.

Water may be applied in a predetermined amount or may be sufficientlyapplied followed by controlling the amount thereof by squeezing usingpress rollers or by drying under heating as described in JP-A-59-164551.

The step of supplying water may before or after image exposure, if it isbefore the heat development.

When the heat-developable photographic material is superposed on thedye-fixing element after supplying water, it is preferred to apply apressure.

Otherwise, if they are partially superposed, image unevenness which isconsidered to be caused by the nonuniform distribution ofwater-insoluble components such as a salt of the complex-formingcompound is liable to occur.

The pressure applied at superposing the heat-developable photographicmaterial on the dye-fixing element depends upon the kind of materialused, but is generally from 0.1 kg/cm² to 100 kg/cm², and preferablyfrom 1 kg/cm² to 50 kg/cm² as described, e.g., in JP-A-59-180547.

As the means of applying pressure to the superposed heat-developablephotographic material and the dye-fixing element, a system of passingthem through a pair of rollers, a system of pressing using plates havinggood smoothness, can be employed. Also, the press rollers or plates maybe heated in the temperature range of from room temperature to thetemperature in the heat development step at pressing.

If necessary, the superposing step may be performed under pre-heating.The pre-heating temperature is not over the heat development temperatureand is from 35° C. to 95° C., and preferably from 40° C. to 90° C.

As the heating means for the heating step of heating the superposedelements, a means for passing them through hot plates, a means forcontacting them with a hot plate, a means for contacting them with a hotdrum or a hot roller while rotating it, a means for passing them througha hot atmosphere, can be used.

The heating temperature in the heating step is in the range of fromabout 50° C. to about 100° C., and preferably from 60° C. to 100° C.Also, a layer of an electrically conductive material such as graphite,carbon black, and metals, can be formed on the heat-developablephotographic material and the photographic material may be directlyheated by passing an electric current through the layer.

After the heating step described above, a step of peeling off thedye-fixing element from the heat-developable photographic material maybe employed, and in this -case, an optional peeling means can be used.For example, the means disclosed in JP-A-62-280741 can be used.

Specific embodiments of the image-forming apparatus of this inventionfor performing the process of this invention are now explained ingreater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but thepresent invention is not to be construed as being limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of theimage-forming apparatus of this invention. In addition, in the followingdescription, the heat-developable photographic material is sometimesexpressed simply as "light-sensitive material" and the dye-fixingelement as "image-receiving paper".

In FIG. 1, a light exposure means 200 is disposed at the upper portionin a housing 1 and the section including the light exposure means 200 isshielded from other section by a partition wall 224.

The light exposure means .is composed of an illumination lamp 208equipped with a reflection mirror 206 scanning the lower portion of aglass platen over the whole plane in a body, mirrors 210, 212, 214, anassembly 216 composed of image focusing lenses and filter unit, mirrors218 and 220, each moving in the same direction to 1/2 of the scanningdistance of the lamp, and a fixed mirror 222.

At the portion of the exposure means 200 through which an optical axis226 passes, an opening is formed and a shutter 240 is formed at theopening 280.

To one side of the housing 1 is removably equipped a cartridge 14containing a roll 12 having wound thereon a heat-developablephotographic sensitive material S (hereinafter, referred to as"light-sensitive material"). At the outlet 16 for the light-sensitivematerial S of the cartridge 14 are disposed a pair of delivery rollers22 and 22 contained in a dark box 20 and the light-sensitive material Swound round the roll 12 is delivered to a definite length at a definitetime through the rollers 22 and 22. When the leading edge of thelight-sensitive material S is delivered into the duplicating apparatus,the delivering rollers 22 and 22 open a part from each other to thepositions shown by the imaginary lines to enable the travel of thelight-sensitive material S.

In front of the dark box 20 are disposed a cutter unit 23 for cuttingthe light-sensitive material S, plural feed rollers 24 and plural guideplates 25.

In a transporting passageway for the light-sensitive material S formedby the feed rollers 24 and guide plates 25 is disposed an overallexposure means 110, which uniformly overall-illuminates thelight-sensitive material S. In the overall exposure means 110 areexposed a pair of light sources 112 and a pair of reflection mirrors 113so that the exposure means 110 can illuminate the light-sensitivematerial S from either of the support side and the light-sensitive layerside.

In front of the overall exposure means 110 are disposed two sets of niprollers 26 and 28 so that the light-sensitive material S passes throughthe exposure position by the exposure means 200 and also in front of thenip rollers 28 are disposed guide rollers 24 and guide plates 25.

Furthermore, in front of the nip rollers 28 is disposed a turning means40 for turning the exposed light-sensitive material S. The turning means40 is supported by four belt-supporting rollers 46, 47, 48 and 49 andalso has an endless belt 50 wound round to form a circular arc of about180° by means of feed rollers 33 and nip rollers 45 and 51 which arebrought into contact with the supporting rollers 46 and 49,respectively, under pressure.

The turning means 40 further has a guide plate 54 for guiding thelight-sensitive material S sent through the nip rollers 28 to the niproller 45 and also in front of the nip roller 51 is disposed of a sensor34 for detecting the leading edge of the light-sensitive material.

In front of the sensor 34 is disposed a water applying means 52. By thewater applying means 52, water in a tank 53 is coated on thelight-sensitive layer surface of the light-sensitive material S and thelight-sensitive material S coated with water is guided by a guide plate55 and sent to press rollers 101 and 102 of a superposing means 64 ofthe photographic material and the image-receiving paper.

An image-receiving paper supplying means 56 is disposed under theturning means 40. The image-receiving paper supplying means 56 iscomposed of an image-receiving paper supplying cassette 57, a deliveringroller 58 for delivering an image-receiving paper in the cassette 57,and feed rollers 59, 60, 62 and 63 for sending the image-receiving paperC delivered by the delivering roller 58 between the press roller 102 andthe nip roller 103 along a guide plate 103.

In this case, the aforesaid water-applying means 52 may be disposed infront of the image-receiving paper supplying means 56 and water may becoated on the image-receiving paper.

The width of the image-receiving paper C is about 6 mm shorter than thewidth of the light-sensitive material S and the image-receiving paper Cis superposed on the light-sensitive material S in the superposing means64 composed of press rollers 101 and 102 so that the image-receivingpaper C is in the central portion of the light-sensitive material S.

In front of the superposing means 64 is disposed a heat-developing andimage-transferring means 100. In the heat-developing andimage-transferring means 100 are disposed a pair of 1st heat rollers 66,a pair of 2nd heat rollers 67, and a pair of 3rd heat rollers 68 atdefinite intervals.

Also, between the 1st heat rollers 66 and the 2nd heat rollers 67 andbetween the 2nd heat rollers 67 and the 3rd heat rollers 68 are disposedguide plates 78 and guide plates 80, respectively each with a pass linefor the light-sensitive material S and the image-receiving paper C.Also, guide plates 78 and 80 each is equipped with a heater (not shown).The 1st heat rollers 66, the 2nd heat rollers 67, and the 3rd heatrollers 68 are synchronistically rotated by a motor (not shown).

The 1st heat rollers 66, the 2nd heat rollers 67, and the 3rd heatrollers 68 are made of rubber and each is equipped with a driving shaftmade of an electrically conductive material. At the outsides of the 1stheat rollers 66, the 2nd heat rollers 67, and the 3rd heat rollers 68are disposed heaters 72, 74, and 76, respectively along the direction ofthe shafts of the heat rollers.

Each of the heaters 72, 74, and 76 is equipped with plural heatingelements (not shown) along the direction of the shaft of the hat rollers66, 67 and 68, and each of the heat rollers 66, 67 and 68 can be heatedat plural portions.

These heaters 72, 74, and 76 are connected to an electric source (notshown) through a controlling device (not shown).

In front of the heat-developing and image-transferring means 100 isdisposed a means 84 for peeling of the image-receiving paper from thelight-sensitive material with guide plates 82 between them. The peelingmeans 84 is composed of a 1st feed roller 85, a 2nd feed roller 86, anda peeling off belts 89 each supported by guide rollers 87 and 88, whichpress the light-sensitive material S only to the outer face of the 1stfeed roller 85 at both end portions of the roller.

Above and side portion of the peeling off means 84 is formed alight-sensitive material discarding portion 93 and below and sideportion of the means 84 is formed an image-receiving paper receivingportion 97. The light-sensitive material discarding portion 93 iscomposed of a guide member 90, a pair of feed rollers 91 and 92, and adiscarding box 94 and the light-sensitive material S sent from thepeeling off means 84 through the guide member 90 is discarded into thediscarding box means of the feed rollers 91 and 92. The image-receivingpaper receiving portion 97 is composed of a pair of feed rollers 95 and96 and a tray 98 for receiving image-receiving paper C, the tray 98being projected from the housing 1.

The image-forming apparatus (duplicator) is equiped with an illuminationlamp 208, a cutter unit 23, a scanning and driving means (not shown) forthe light exposure means 200, a sensor 34 for detecting the leading topof the light-sensitive material, a means 64 for superposing theimage-receiving paper on the light-sensitive material, and a controllingmeans (not shown) connected to a solenoid 242 for driving shutter and isoperated as follows.

In the operation standby step, i.e., the copying standby step of theduplicating apparatus, the leading top of the light-sensitive material Sis near the cutting portion of the cutter unit 23 or in the dark box 20.

Then, when a copy start buttom (not shown) is pushed, the deliveryrollers 22 are operated to send the light-sensitive material S andafter, if necessary, applying thereto an overall exposure by means ofthe overall exposure means 110, the illumination lamp 208 is lightedimmediately before the leading edge of the light-sensitive materialreaches the exposure position 32 to illuminate an original. Also, whenthe leading end of the light-sensitive material reaches the position 32,the shutter 240 closed until then released by the action of the solenoid242, the exposure means 200 is operated, and the light-sensitivematerial S is advanced at a rate corresponding to the working of theexposure means 200. Thus, the image of the original is projected ontothe light-sensitive material S to imagewise expose the light-sensitivematerial. When the light-sensitive material S travels a distance same asthe length of the original, the cutter unit 23 acts to cut thelight-sensitive material S. Also, at the same time, the shutter 240 isclosed to optically shield the inside of the apparatus.

The light-sensitive material S thus imagewise exposed and cut is sent tothe turning means 40 and is turned while being pressed onto the feedrollers 33 by the endless belt 50. When the leading edge of thelight-sensitive material S is turned, it is detected by the sensor 34and thereafter, the light-sensitive layer by the water-applying means52.

In the image-receiving paper supplying means 56, by pushing a copy startbuttom or with the start of image exposure, the image-receiving paper Cis delivered and when the leading top thereof reaches the position beingnipped by the press roller 102 and the nip roller 103, theimage-receiving paper C is stopped.

In the means 64 for superposing the image-receiving paper on thelight-sensitive material, the image-receiving paper C having narrowwidth is super-posed on the light-sensitive material S of broad width sothat the paper is disposed at the central portion in the width directionand the leading top of the paper is at the same position as the leadingtop of the light-sensitive material or is few millimeters ahead, and theassembly is sent to the heat-developing and image-transferring means100, wherein the images formed on the light-sensitive material S aretransferred onto the image-receiving paper C under heating.

After image transfer, the assembly is sent to the peeling of means 84,in which the light-sensitive material S is peeled off from theimage-receiving paper C by the peeling belt 89 and sent to thediscarding portion 93. The image-receiving paper C is sent to thereceiving tray 98 by the feed rollers 95 and 96.

In this embodiment, in the heat-developing and image-transferring means100, heating is performed by the heat rollers 66, 67, and 68 but heatingmay be performed by belt heating, by a thermal head composed of a lineararray of heating elements, electric heating, drum heating, microwaveheating, or infrared irradiation. Furthermore, the assembly may beheated in a bath containing a heated liquid inert to the light-sensitivematerial S, such as a fluorine series liquid. In these cases, theheating temperature is generally from 50° C. to 100° C., and preferablyfrom 60° C. to 95° C.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example ofthe duplicating apparatus of this invention equipped with a movingoriginal type exposure means 3.

In the duplicating apparatus, an original supporting glass plate 2 isprovided on the upper face of a hosing 1 reciprocating-slidably in thedirection of an arrow A. That is, an original (not shown) is placed inthe glass plate 2 with imaged surface down and reciprocated in thedirection of the arrow A.

Under the glass plate 2 is disposed an illumination lamp 8 equipped witha reflection mirror 6 for illuminating the original and a fiber lensarray 10 for forming the image of the original on a light-sensitivematerial S at a definite position is also formed.

The other parts of FIG. 2 are same as those of FIG. 1 already explained.The duplicating apparatus is further equipped with an illumination lamp8 , light-sensitive material delivery rollers 22, a cutter unit 23, anoriginal supporting glass plate 2, a sensor 34 for detecting the leadingtop of the light-sensitive material, and a controlling means (not shown)connected to the means 64 for superposing the image-receiving paper onthe light-sensitive material and is operated as follows.

In the working standby step, i.e., the copying standby step of theduplicating apparatus, the leading top of the light-sensitive material Sis in the magazine connecting dark box 20.

Then, when a copy start buttom (not shown) is pushed, the deliveryrollers 22 act to advance the light-sensitive material S. After, ifnecessary, applying overall exposure to the light-sensitive material inthe overall exposure means 110, the illumination lamp 8 is lighteddirectly before the leading edge of the light-sensitive material reachesthe position 32 to illuminate the original. Also, when the leading edgereaches position 32, the original supporting glass plate 2 moves and thelight-sensitive material S is moved corresponding to the movement of theoriginal, whereby the image of the original is projected onto thelight-sensitive material S to finish the imagewise exposure. When thelight-sensitive material S is advanced to the same length as the lengthof the original in the moving direction, the cutter unit 23 acts to cutthe light-sensitive material S. Thereafter, the delivery rollers 22 arerotated to move back the light-sensitive material S so that the leadingtop of the light-sensitive material S is in the dark box 20.

Thereafter, the apparatus is operated as the case of the duplicatingapparatus shown by FIG. 1.

In these two embodiments of this invention, the image exposure iscarried out by a slit imagewise exposure of the moving exposure meanstype or the moving original type but the invention is not limited tothese types and, for example, the whole surface of the original may beilluminated to project the image on the light-sensitive material in arest state.

Also, in the aforesaid embodiments, the light-sensitive material S iscut by the cutter unit 23 at each exposure but the cutter unit 23 may beomitted by disposing a winding roll in place of the discarding box 94.

Furthermore, in place of a rolled light-sensitive material, sheet-formlight-sensitive materials previously cut into definite length can beused. In this case, the cutter unit is omitted.

Also, in place of using sheet-form image-receiving papers, a rolledimage-receiving paper may be used, and in this case a cutter unit forcutting the image-receiving paper to a definite length is disposed infront of the image-receiving paper supplying means.

Furthermore, in these two embodiments of this invention, thelight-sensitive material S is imagewise exposed after the uniformoverall exposure but the overall exposure may be applied during theimagewise exposure or after the imagewise exposure and before thesuperposing step. That is, the overall exposure may be applied at anytime before the superposing step.

In addition, in the aforesaid embodiments, the overall exposure for thelight-sensitive material S can be applied from either the support sideor the light-sensitive layer side thereof, and hence the support for thelight-sensitive material S is preferably transparent but may not betransparent if it is not light-shielding.

Furthermore, in these two embodiments, a controlling means (not shown)for controlling the exposure amount of the overall exposure means 110(e.g., a switch for controlling the exposure time) is provided tocontrol the extent of softening the gradation of the light-sensitivematerial.

The image-forming process of this invention is suitable for making amachine readable passport (MPA) as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5.

The MPA shown in FIG. 3 is composed of a booklet 5 having a transparentsheet 2 having on one surface an image-receiving layer 1 havingtransferred thereon a composite of a letter image 1a, a portrait 1b, afigure image 1c and an OCR image 1d; a support sheet 3 disposed at theopposite side of the transparent sheet 2 to the image-receiving layerside; and an adhesive layer 4 formed on the support sheet 3 a thetransparent sheet facing side for adhering the support sheet 3 and thetransparent sheet 2. The transparent sheet 2 and support sheet 3 arefiled in the booklet 5 at the position of superposing the sheets 2 and 3on each other. Also, in the booklet 5 are further filed register sheets7 for stamping emigration and immigration stamps, visas stamps, etc.

The aforesaid image-receiving layer 1 has composite images of a letterimage 1a, a portrait 1b, a figure image 1c, and an OCR image 1dtransferred thereon. As shown in FIG. 2, the image-receiving layer 1having the composite images transferred thereon and the transparentsheet 2 having the layer 1 adhered thereto are adhered to the supportsheet 3 through the adhesive layer 4, whereby the transparent sheet 2,the image-receiving layer 1, the adhesive layer 4, and the support sheet3 are integrated in a body to provide a 4-layer structure compositesheet as a front cover paper in the booklet 5.

The image-receiving layer 1 is formed on the support sheet 3 sidesurface of the transparent sheet 2 at a thickness of about 10 μm. On theimage-receiving layer 1 have been recorded by transfer a letter image 1asuch as a name, a portrait 1b, if necessary, a figure image 1c, and anOCR image of optically readable characters 1d.

Printing of the images 1a to 1d onto the image-receiving layer 1 isperformed by first arranging the aforesaid images 1a to 1d by a computerconsidering the dispositions thereof (layout), displaying the compositeimage on a CRT (cathode ray tube) for printing, exposing the image on aheat-developable light-sensitive material by, for example, a three-colorsuccessive exposure system, and then heat-developing the exposedheat-developable light-sensitive material and transferring the imageformed onto the image-receiving layer simultaneously therewith.

The adhesive layer 4 is formed on the back side of the support sheet 3,i.e., the transparent sheet side and adheres the support sheet to thetransparent sheet so that the image-receiving layer 1 of the transparentsheet is in close contact with the back side surface of the supportsheet 3. For the image-receiving layer, an adhesive which does notattack the images 1a to 1d heattransferred onto the image-receivinglayer 1 and does not form bubbles between the sheets 2 and 3 is selectedand is coated thereon at a thickness of, e.g., from 1 μm to 200 μm. Inaddition, the adhesive layer 4 is formed at the transparent sheet sideof the support sheet 3 in this embodiment but the invention is notlimited to such an embodiment and, for example, after transferring theimage onto the image-receiving layer 1, the adhesive layer may be formedthereon by coating. Furthermore, a separate adhesive sheet may be usedand further an adhesive sheet formed on a releasable paper may be used.

On the adhesive layer 4 is provided a releasable paper 6. The releasablepaper 6 is a little larger than the support sheet to an extent that theborder portion of the releasable paper 6 extends over the border of thesupport sheet 3 so that the pheriphey of the releasable paper can beeasily held for releasing the releasable paper 6. In addition, if thelarger size of the releasable paper 6 than the adhesive layer 4 causesinconvenience by the protrusion of the border portions of the releasablepaper 6 over the booklet 5, the size of the releasable paper 6 may bereduced to the same size as or smaller than the size of the supportsheet, but not smaller than the adhesive layer.

Then, by referring to FIG. 5, the manner of preparing the MRP isexplained.

The step of exposing the images, such as the letter image 1a, theportrait 1b, etc., (FIG. 3) is performed by a printer video as shown inFIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, the video printer is equipped with a cassette 41 fora roll having wound thereon a heat-developable light sensitive paper 40,printing CRT 29 for exposing a composite image on the emulsion surfaceof the light-sensitive paper 40 withdrawn from the cassette 41, anaperture 51 having an opening at the position and of a size matching toa portrait exposed zone 1b of the light-sensitive paper thus exposed, anoverall exposure light source 62, a looper means 42 for storing theexposed light-sensitive paper 40 in a loop form for smoothly performingthe subsequent processing, a water supplying means 43 disposed in frontof the looper means 42 for uniformly applying water onto the emulsionlayer of the light-sensitive material 40 as a diffusion aid forfacilitating the heat transfer in the subsequent step, a cutter 44disposed in front of the water supplying means 43 for cutting theexposed light-sensitive paper 40 into frames, a case 45 containing thebooklets 5 before they are laminated to the frames disposed in the case45 such that the image-receiving layer 1 is facing upward, a pair ofrollers 46 for matching the superposing position of the image-receivinglayer 1 of each booklet transferred from the case 5 and the cutlight-sensitive paper 40 and withdrawing air, between the superposedlight sensitive paper 40 and the image-receiving layer 1 of the booklet5, a heat developing and image-transferring section 47 for sandwichingthe superposed image-receiving layer 1 and the light-sensitive paper 40in the perpendicular direction and applying heat thereto to perform theheat development and image transfer, a booklet case 48 for receiving theheat-transferred booklets 5 in layer succesively, and a wastelight-sensitive box 49 for collecting the waste light-sensitive papers40a after heat transfer.

The aforesaid CRT 29 for printing is disposed such that a compositeimage of a portrait, letter images, and other images is focused onto thelight-sensitive paper 40 based in the outputs from an image compositingmeans (not shown) to expose the light-sensitive paper 40. That is, ablack-and-white image corresponding to the blue composite image, ablack-and-white image corresponding to the green composite image, and ablack-and-white image corresponding to the red composite image aresuccessively displayed on CRT 29 for printing and they are exposed tothe light-sensitive paper 40 through a lens 52. The three-color facesuccessive exposures are performed by selectively inserting each of ablue filter 53, a green filter 54, and a red filter 55 by means of afilter changing means (not shown) to convert each black-and-white imagedescribed above into a monochromic image of blue, green, or red.

In addition, in place of the exposure of the light-sensitive paper 40 bythe CRT 29 the exposure may be performed using an LED (light emittingdiode), laser or FOT.

At the exposure of the aforesaid light-sensitive paper 40, thelight-sensitive paper 40 is intermittently advanced by frame by means ofa frame advancing means (not shown). The light-sensitive paper 40 thusadvanced by frame and image-exposed successively is subjected to anoverall exposure of a definte exposure amount by the overall exposurelight source 52 through the aperture 51 having an opening disposed atthe same position as the exposure zone for a portrait and the same sizeas that of the portrait in an overall exposure means 50. Furthermore,after passing through the looper means 42, the light-sensitive paper 40is uniformly coated with water thinly at the emulsion layer side of thelight-sensitive paper by means of the water-supplying means 43. Thewater thus supplied acts as a diffusion aid in the heat-development andimage-transfer step. In addition, fusible, urea, water ofcrystallization, water-containing microcapsules, which form water byheating, can be included in the image-receiving layer 1 as a diffusionaid during the preparation of the image-receiving layer, and theapplication of water in the superposing step is unnecessary.

The light-sensitive paper 40 thus applied with water is cut into framesby means of the cutter 44, transferred to a definite position by atransfer means (not shown), and superposed on the image-receiving layer1 of the booklet 5 transported from the cassette 45. Thereafter, thewater applied in the previous step is uniformly spread over the emulsionlayer of the light-sensitive paper by means of a pair of squeeze rollers46.

Then, the booklet 5 thus superposed on the image-receiving layer 1 ofthe light-sensitive paper 40 of one frame is heated by means of theheat-development and image-transfer means composed of an upper heatplate and a lower heat plate 47 and dyes in the light-sensitive emulsionlayers of the light-sensitive paper 40 are heat-transferred onto theimage-receiving layer 1 of the booklet 5. In addition, since theheat-developing and image transfer step has a longer processing timethan other steps, it is preferred that the heat-development andimage-transfer portion 47 is composed of plural stages that are used inparallel. By employing such plural stages, the processing efficiency ofthe video printer can be improved. After heat-development and imagetransfer, the waste light-sensitive papers 40 after heat transfer areseparated from the booklets and collected in the box 49, and thebooklets 5 after heat transfer are collected in the case 48.

The step of making a sheet-form product such as an identity car (IDcard) is explained with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

FIG. 6 shows an original having printed personal information 1a, 1c, and1d and a portrait 1b attached thereto. An original 57 is placed on anoriginal stand 58 of an image copying device shown in FIG. 7. Then, aheat-developable light-sensitive paper 40 is withdrawn from a cassette41. The original 57 is focused onto the light sensitive paper 40 by alens 52 for exposure.

Also, color filters and a diaphragm for controlling color balance andexposure time for the light-sensitive paper 40 are set in an exposurecondition controlling means 59 and the conditions are changed asrequired. Then, by illuminating the original 57 by lamps 56, the imageof the original is exposed on the light-sensitive paper 40. Thereafter,the light-sensitive paper 40 is sent to the .overall exposure section 50one frame at a time, wherein an overall exposure of a definite exposureamount is applied to the light-sensitive paper 40 by the side exposurelight source 62 through the an aperture 51 having the opening disposedat the position corresponding to the exposed position of the portrait onthe light-sensitive paper 40 and having the same size as that of theexposed portion of the portrait.

Then, the light-sensitive paper 40 is sent to superposing rollers 46through a looper means 42, a water supplying means 43, and a cutter 44.

An image-receiving sheet 60 is supplied from a cassette 45 and issuperposed on the light-sensitive paper 40 by the superposing rollers 46so that the light-sensitive layer of the light-sensitive paper is inface-to-face relationship with the image-receiving layer of theimage-receiving sheet 60. In this embodiment, the image-receiving sheet60 is not filed in a booklet but is finished as a single sheet composedof a transparent or translucent support having formed thereon theimage-receiving layer having the aforesaid composite imageheat-transferred.

The subsequent procedures are same as those described above for FIG. 5.

Thus, the sheets 60 having the images of the original are collected in acase 48.

In the embodiments illustrated by FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the overallexposure is applied after the image exposure, but the overall exposuremay be applied before the image exposure in this invention.

Thus, according to this invention, the gradation of positive imagesobtained can be stably controlled in a simple manner without need ofcomplicated operations.

The invention is now explained in greater detail with reference to thefollowing specific examples, but the present invention is not to beconstrued as being limited thereto. Unless otherwise indicated allparts, percents and ratios are by weight.

EXAMPLE 1

A silver halide emulsion for layer 1 was prepared as follows.

To an aqueous gelatin solution (a solution of 20 g of gelatin and 3 g ofsodium chloride in 1000 ml of water kept at 75° C.) while stirring wellwere simultaneously added 600 ml of an aqueous solution containingsodium chloride and potassium bromide and an aqueous silver nitratesolution (a solution of 0.59 mol of silver nitrate in 600 ml of water)at an equal flow rate over a period of 40 minutes to provide amono-disperse cubic silver chloride emulsion (bromine 80 mol%) having amean grain size of 0.35 μm.

After washing the emulsion with water and desalting, the emulsion waschemically sensitized with the addition of 5 mg of sodium thiosulfateand 20 mg of 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-1,3,3a,7-tetraazaindene at 60° C. Theamount of the emulsion obtained was 600 g.

The silver halide emulsion for layer 3 was prepared as follows.

To an aqueous gelatin solution (a solution of 20 g of gelatin and 3 g ofsodium chloride in 1000 ml of water kept at 75° C.) were simultaneouslyadded 600 ml of an aqueous solution of sodium chloride and potassiumbromide, an aqueous silver nitrate solution (a solution of 0.59 mol ofsilver nitrate in 600 ml of water), and a dye solution (I) shown belowat an equal flow rate over a period of 40 minutes to provide amono-disperse cubic silver chlorobromide emulsion (bromine 80 mol%)having a mean grain size of 0.35 μm adsorbed with the dye.

After washing with water and desalting, the emulsion was chemicallysensitized with the addition of 5 mg of sodium thiosulfate and 20 mg of4-hydroxy-6-methyl-1,3,3a,7-tetraazaindene at 60° C. The amount of theemulsion obtained was 600 g.

Dye Solution (I):

    __________________________________________________________________________    Dye of the following structure      150 mg                                     ##STR2##                                                                     Methanol                            400 ml                                    __________________________________________________________________________

Then, the silver halide emulsion for layer 5 was prepared as follows.

To an aqueous gelatin solution (a solution of 20 g of gelatin andammonia in 1000 ml of water kept at 50° C.) while stirring well weresimultaneously added 1000 ml of an aqueous solution of potassium iodideand potassium bromide and an aqueous silver nitrate solution (a solutionof 1 mol of silver nitrate in 1000 ml of water) at a constant pAg toprovide a mono-disperse octahedral silver iodobromide emulsion (iodine 5mol%) having a mean grain size of 5 μm.

After washing with water and desalting, the emulsion was subjected togold and sulfur sensitization with the addition of 5 mg of chloroauricacid (tetrahydrate) and 2 g cf sodium thiosulfate at 60° C. The amountof the emulsion obtained was 1 kg.

Then, a gelatin dispersion of a dye-providing material was prepared asfollows.

In 46 ml of cyclohexanone were dissolved 18 g of a yellow dye-providingmaterial A-1 (shown below), 9 g of an electron donating material(reducing agent) B (shown below) and 9 g of tricyclohexyl phosphate atabout 60° C. to provide a homogeneous solution. After mixing thesolution with 100 g of an aqueous solution of 10% limited gelatin and1.5 g of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate with stirring, the mixture wasdispersed by a homogenizer for 10 minutes at 10,000 r.p.m, to provide ayellow dye-providing material dispersion.

Dispersions of magenta and cyan dye-providing materials were prepared inthe same manner as for preparing the yellow dye-providing materialdispersion, using a magenta dye providing material A-2 and cyandye-providing material A-3, respectively.

A multilayer color photographic material 101 having the layers of thecompositions shown below was prepared using these products. ##STR3##

Layer Construction

A polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 100 μm was usedas the support.

    ______________________________________                                        Layer 1 Red-sensitive Emulsion Layer                                          Silver chlorobromide emulsion                                                                        400 mg/m.sup.2                                         (bromine 80 mol %)     as Ag                                                  Sensitizing dye (*3)   8 × 10.sup.-7 mol/m.sup.3                        Cyan dye-providing material (A-3)                                                                    300 mg/m.sup.2                                         Gelatin                1000 mg/m.sup.2                                        Electron donating material (B)                                                                       150 mg/m.sup.2                                         High boiling solvent (*4)                                                                            150 mg/m.sup.2                                         Antifoggant (*10)      1.1 mg/m.sup.2                                         1,5-Diphenyl-3-pyrazolidone                                                                          60 mg/m.sup.2                                          Surface active agent (*2)                                                                            100 mg/m.sup.2                                         Layer 2 Interlayer                                                            Gelatin                800 mg/m.sup.2                                         Zinc hydroxide (size 0.2 μm)                                                                      400 mg/m.sup.2                                         Reducing agent (*8)    500 mg/m.sup.2                                         Layer 3 Green-Sensitive Emulsion Layer                                        Silver chlorobromide emulsion                                                                        400 mg/m.sup.2                                         (bromine 80 mol %)     as Ag                                                  Magenta dye-providing material (A-2)                                                                 400 mg/m.sup.2                                         Gelatin                1000 mg/m.sup.2                                        Electron donating material (B)                                                                       200 mg/m.sup.2                                         High boiling solvent (*4)                                                                            200 mg/m.sup.2                                         1,5-Diphenyl-3-pyrazolidone                                                                          60 mg/m.sup.2                                          Surface active agent (*2)                                                                            100 mg/m.sup.2                                         Antifoggant (*10)      1.1 mg/m.sup.2                                         Layer 4 Interlayer                                                            Gelatin                800 mg/m.sup.2                                         Zinc hydroxide (size 0.2 μm)                                                                      400 mg/m.sup.2                                         Reducing agent (*8)    500 mg/m.sup.2                                         Layer 5 Blue-Sensitive Emulsion Layer                                         Silver iodobromide emulsion                                                                          500 mg/m.sup.2                                         (bromine 5 mol %)      as Ag                                                  Yellow dye-providing material (A-1)                                                                  400 mg/m.sup.2                                         Gelatin                1000 mg/m.sup.2                                        Electron donating material (B)                                                                       200 mg/m.sup.2                                         High boiling solvent (*4)                                                                            200 mg/m.sup.2                                         1,5-Diphenyl-3-pyrazolidone                                                                          60 mg/m.sup.2                                          Surface active agent (*2)                                                                            100 mg/m.sup.2                                         Antifoggant (*10)      1.1 mg/m.sup.2                                         Layer 6 Protective Layer                                                      Gelatin                800 mg/m.sup.2                                         Hardening agent (*6)   100 mg/m.sup.2                                         Silica gel (size 4 μm)                                                                            100 mg/m.sup.2                                         Sumika ® Gel L-5H (*9)                                                                           220 mg/m.sup.2                                         ______________________________________                                         The compounds used were as follows.                                           ##STR4##                                                                      ##STR5##                                                                      ##STR6##                                                                      (*6) 1,2Bis(vinylsulfonylacetamido)ethane                                     (*8) Sodium pentadecylhydroquinonesulfonate                                   (*9) Silica gel made by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.                           ##STR7##                                                                 

Then, a dye-fixing material was prepared as follows.

In 1300 ml of water were dissolved 63 g of gelatin, 100 g of the modantshown below, and 80 g of picolinic acid guinidine and the solution wascoated on a paper support laminated with polyethylene at a wet thicknessof 45 μm followed by drying. ##STR8##

Then, a solution of 35 g of gelatin and 1.05 g of a hardening agent,1,2-bis(vinylsulfonylacetamido)-ethane dissolved in 800 ml of water wascoated on the aforesaid layer at a wet thickness of 17 μm followed bydrying to provide a dye-fixing material.

The multilayer color photographic material 101 was exposed through colorseparation filters of blue, green, red, and grey each havingcontinuously changing density using a tungsten lamp for 1/10 sec. at2000 lux. The light-sensitive material had the characteristics that theexposure amount required to provide a minimum density +0.02 was 1/10sec. at 2000 lux.

Then, after applying 15 ml/m² of water to the emulsion layer surface ofthe color photographic material thus exposed by a wire bar, thedye-fixing material was superposed on the photographic material so thatthe coated layer was in contact with the emulsion layer.

Then, the assembly was heated for 20 seconds using heat rollers thetemperature of which was controlled so that the temperature of thewater-impregnated layer became 85° C. Thereafter, the dye-fixingmaterial was peeled off from the photographic material, whereby clearimages of blue, green, red, and grey were obtained on the dye-fixingmaterial corresponding to the color separation filters of blue, green,red, and grey. This sample was designated Sample 101A.

Then, additional samples of the photographic material 101 was exposed asabove for 1/10 sec. at 2000 lux, and thereafter an overall exposure wasalso provided while changing the uniform exposure conditions as shown inTable 1 below. By changing the kind of ND filter (neutral densityfilter) (made by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.), each sample was processedas in the case of Sample 101A to provide Samples 101B to 101F.

The gamma values and Dmax and Dmin of each sample were measured and theresults are shown in Table 1.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        ND Filter Under                                                               Uniform Exposure  Photographic Performance                                           Condition (2000      Gamma                                             Sample Lux. × 1/10 sec.)                                                                            Value  Dmax  Dmin                                 ______________________________________                                        101A   No Uniform exposure                                                                          Y     2.2    2.01  0.18                                                       M     2.1    2.10  0.16                                                       C     2.2    2.14  0.16                                 101B    ND 2.3**      Y     2.15   2.01  0.18                                                       M     2.08   2.10  0.16                                                       C     2.10   2.15  0.16                                 101C   ND 2.0         Y     2.0    2.02  0.17                                                       M     1.9    2.10  0.16                                                       C     2.0    2.14  0.16                                 101D   ND 1.7         Y     1.7    2.02  0.18                                                       M     1.65   2.05  0.16                                                       C     1.7    2.12  0.16                                 101E   ND 1.5         Y     1.5    2.00  0.17                                                       M     1.4    2.00  0.16                                                       C     1.4    2.10  0.16                                 101F   ND 1.3         Y     1.25   1.95  0.15                                                       M     1.2    1.90  0.15                                                       C     1.2    1.90  0.14                                 ______________________________________                                         *The gamma value in Table 1, is described more fully in Shashin Kogaku no     Kiso, Ginen Shashin hen (Foundation of Photographic Engineering, Silver       Salt Photography), pages 389 to 392.                                          **If the exposure amount before using the filter is I.sub.o and the           exposure amount using the filter is I, the ND number is shown by the          following equation.                                                           ##STR9##                                                                      ##STR10##                                                                

From the results shown in the table, it can be seen that at ND1.3, Dmaxwa reduced to some extent but the gamma value changed from 2.2 to 1.2,that is, the gradation was greatly softened.

Also, another sample was subjected to the overall exposure (uniformexposure) as in Sample 101C before the wedge exposure (Sample 101G) andanother sample was subjected to the overall exposure simultaneously withthe wedge exposure using the same light source (Sample 101H) and thesesamples were processed as in the case of Sample 101A.

The results obtained for these samples are shown in Table 2 below.

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                                        Gamma                                                         Sample          Value        Dmax  Dmin                                       ______________________________________                                        101G      Y     2.0          2.02  0.18                                                 M      1.90        2.05  0.16                                                 C     2.0          2.15  0.16                                       101H      Y      2.05        2.03  0.18                                                 M      1.90        2.10  0.16                                                 C     2.0          2.15  0.16                                       ______________________________________                                    

From the above results, it can be seen that the uniform exposure(overall exposure) may be applied simultaneously with, before, or afterthe wedge exposure. By changing the conditions of the uniform exposure(overall exposure), using the same heat-developable color photographicmaterial, the gradation (gamma value) can be changed in a great range.This result is quite surprising, since in the field of conventionalphotographic materials, the gradation of the toe portion only can besoftened by such uniform exposure.

EXAMPLE 2

The light-sensitive material 101 was mounted in the cartridge 14 of theimage-forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

An original having an image of a woman's face (A-4 size) was placed onthe platen portion and printed as follows.

First, printing was performed by controlling the amount of the lightsource 208 without applying overall exposure to obtain printed imagesnear the original. In this case, the illuminance on the original wasabout 500 lux. sec.

The exposure amount of the overall exposure means 110 was controlled sothat the illuminance thereof on the surface of the photographic materialbecame 15 lux. sec.

After applying this overall exposure the image exposure was performed asdescribed above to obtain prints.

The results showed that when not applying the overall exposure, thedetails of hair could not be seen on the prints obtained and the printswere garish, but in the case of applying the overall exposure, thedetails of hair were seen well, the prints showed a soft finish andsufficient density.

EXAMPLE 3

In Example 2, filters 100Y and 100C made by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.were mounted in front of the exposure lamp in the overall exposure means110 and printing was performed by the same overall exposure conditionand image exposure condition as in Example 2.

In this case, it was seen that in the prints finished, the hair portionbecame green and the magenta component only was softened in tone.

These results show that the gradation of a desired color can becontrolled by changing the tone of the overall exposure condition.

For example, for softening the yellow component only, filters 100C and100M or filters 200C and 200M may be used for the exposure lamp of theoverall exposure means so that the blue component onlY is subjected tooverall exposure. I; another process, a blue filter may be used forobtaining the same effect as above.

EXAMPLE 4

Then, a heat-developable color photographic material F-1 having the samelayers as in Example 1 on a polyethylene terephthalate film 100 μm thickwas prepared using the above-described emulsions and dispersion.

The heat-developable photographic material was prepared in the form ofroll (light-sensitive paper 40 in FIG. 5).

Image-Receiving Material

An image-receiving material R-1 was prepared by forming the followinglayers and back layers on a polyethylene-coated paper support 170 μmthick.

    ______________________________________                                        Layer 1                                                                       Gelatin           0.45 g/m.sup.2                                              Surface active agent (*4)                                                                       0.01 g/m.sup.2                                              Polymer (*5)      0.04 g/m.sup.2                                              Hardening agent (*9)                                                                            0.30 g/m.sup.2                                              Layer 2                                                                       Mordant (*6)      2.35 g/m.sup.2                                              Polymer (*7)      0.60 g/m.sup.2                                              Gelatin           1.40 g/m.sup.2                                              Polymer (*5)      0.21 g/m.sup.2                                              High-boiling solvent (*8)                                                                       1.40 g/m.sup.2                                              Picolinic acid guanidine                                                                        1.80 g/m.sup.2                                              Surface active agent (*2)                                                                       0.02 g/m.sup.2                                              Layer 3                                                                       Gelatin           0.05 g/m.sup.2                                              Silicone oil (*1) 0.04 g/m.sup.2                                              Surface active agent (*2)                                                                       0.001 g/m.sup.2                                             Surface active agent (*3)                                                                       0.02 g/m.sup.2                                              Surface active agent (*4)                                                                       0.10 g/m.sup.2                                              Picolinic acid guanidine                                                                        0.45 g/m.sup.2                                              Polymer (*5)      0.24 g/m.sup.2                                              Backing Layer 1                                                               Gelatin           3.25 g/m.sup.2                                              Hardening agent (*9)                                                                            0.25 g/m.sup.2                                              Backing Layer 2                                                               Gelatin           0.44 g/m.sup.2                                              Silicone oil (*1) 0.08 g/m.sup.2                                              Surface active agent (*2)                                                                       0.002 g/m.sup.2                                             Matting agent (*10)                                                                             0.09 g/m.sup.2                                              ______________________________________                                         The materials used for the imagereceiving material were as follows.           (*1) Silicone Oil                                                             ##STR11##                                                                     (*2) Aerosol ® OT                                                         ##STR12##                                                                     ##STR13##                                                                     (*5) Sumika ® Gel SH, trade name of polymer made by Sumitomo Chemical     Co., Ltd.                                                                     (*6) Mordant                                                                  ##STR14##                                                                     (*7) Dextran (molecular weight 70,000)                                         (*8) Reofos ® 95, trade name, made by Ajinomoto Co., Inc.                ##STR15##                                                                     (*10) Benzoguanamine Resin (mean particle size 15 μm)                 

The image-receiving material was cut into sheets each of 6 cm×9 cm andthey were placed in the case 45 as sheets 50 in FIG. 7 with theimage-receiving layer facing upward.

By using these elements formed, sheet-form samples were prepared usingthe duplicating apparatus shown in FIG. 7.

The illuminance on the light-sensitive paper 40 is controlled accordingto the kind of the light-sensitive paper being used but in this example,the Dmin of the light-sensitive paper 40 was a minimum at an illuminanceof 10 lux.sec. Therefore, a white paper was placed on surface 58 and theexposure condition controlling means 59 was controlled so that theilluminance was 15 lux.sec. on the light-sensitive paper 40.

Then, the new light-sensitive paper was pulled out from the cassette, anoriginal was placed on the original stand 58, and an image exposure wasperformed.

Thereafter, without applying overall exposure thereto, water was appliedon the light-sensitive paper 40 by the water supplying means 43 at 15g/m², the image-receiving sheet 60 was placed on the light-sensitivepaper 40 by the superposing rollers 46, and the assembly was heated to88° C. for 15 seconds by the heat-developing and image-transfer section47. Then, the light-sensitive paper 40 was peeled off from the sheet 60having the transferred image to give Sample R101.

By following the same procedure as above except that after imageexposure, the exposed portion of the portrait only was exposed in theoverall exposure section at 0.1 lux sec., 0.3 lux sec., or 1.5 lux.sec.,Sheet Samples R102, R103, and R104, respectively were prepared.

In Sample R101, the image tone of the portrait was hard and the imageobtained was inferior to the original.

In Sample R102, the tone of the image of the portrait was considerablysoft and the image obtained was near the original and in sample R103,the image obtained was almost the same as the original.

In Sample R104, the tone of the image of the portrait was too soft togive a satisfactory finish.

In addition, in Samples R101 to R104, the reproducibility of otherimages than the image of the portrait (e.g., letter image, figure image,OCR image) was very good in each case. (In addition, the gamma of thelight-sensitive paper used in the example was 2.2).

Thus, it can be understood that it is possible to improve the quality ofa finished image of a photographic image (continuous tone image) bysoftening the gradation of the light-sensitive paper itself without needof overall exposure, but in such a case the reproduction ofdiscontinuous tone portions such as letters or figures, is reduced.Hence it is preferred to harden the gradation of the light-sensitivepaper itself to some extent for improving the reproduction ofdiscontinuous tone portions and to improve the tone reproduction of acontinuous tone portion such as a portrait by applying an overallexposure to the portrait portion only as in this invention.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in theart that various changes and modifications can be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for forming an image on aheat-developable color light-sensitive material by imagewise exposingsaid material, uniformly exposing at least a portion of said material,and developing said uniformly exposed and imagewise exposed material byapplication of heat to form a color image, said apparatuscomprising:imagewise exposure means for imagewise exposing saidheat-developable color light-sensitive material; uniform exposure meansfor uniformly exposing at least a portion of said heat-developablelight-sensitive material; transferring means for superposing animage-receiving sheet member onto said imagewise exposed and uniformlyexposed heat-developable color light-sensitive material; and heatingmeans for heating said superposed heat-developable light-sensitivematerial and said image-receiving sheet member, to develop a color imageand transfer said image from said heat-developable light-sensitivematerial to said image-receiving sheet member.
 2. The apparatus forforming an image as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apparatus furthercomprises shutter means for selectively controlling said imagewiseexposure and a uniform exposure controlling means cooperating with saidshutter means adopted to control the extent of said uniform exposure. 3.The apparatus for forming an image as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising wetting means for applying a liquid medium between saidsuperposed image-receiving member and said imagewise exposed anduniformly exposed color light-sensitive material.